The present disclosure relates generally to catalyst preparation, and more particularly, to preparation of metallocene catalysts.
This section is intended to introduce the reader to aspects of art that may be related to aspects of the present disclosure, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light and not as admissions of prior art.
Catalysts can be employed to facilitate the formation of products through chemical reactions. It is often desirable to prepare the catalyst in a certain way to achieve desired properties of the catalyst and/or the products. For example, in certain polymerization manufacturing facilities, the catalyst is prepared off-site by a vendor and is then shipped to the polymerization reaction facility. At the vendor facility, the catalyst may be dissolved in a solvent to form a catalyst solution, which may be used by the polymerization manufacturing facility directly or with some additional processing or handling. However, the concentration of the catalyst in the solvent may be limited by the solubility of the catalyst in the solvent. In other words, attempting to dissolve greater amounts of the catalyst in the solution may cause precipitation of the catalyst out of solution, which may be undesirable. In addition, the solubility of the catalyst in the solvent may be affected by temperature. For example, the solubility of the catalyst may decrease at low temperatures. Thus, the concentration of the catalyst in the solvent may be less than desirable, thereby resulting in feeding the catalyst solution at high flow rates. In addition, it is now recognized that issues with catalyst concentration in the solvent may necessitate increased sizes of storage tanks, transfer lines, pumps, and other equipment associated with handling the catalyst solution to facilitate managing the high flow rates of the catalyst solution. This may add to both capital and operating expenditures of the polymerization manufacturing facility. Further, it is now recognized that the costs and other considerations associated with transporting catalyst solution may be greater than those associated with the transportation of only the catalyst.